


Reunions And Alcohol

by suckasstakenames



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Butters is gay, Couples Drama, Drinking, F/F, F/M, House Party, Kenny is bi, Kissing, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Most Characters get backstory, Some Bendy, Some Kenbe, Some other mild pairings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-05-30 22:29:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19412698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suckasstakenames/pseuds/suckasstakenames
Summary: 20 year-old Stan gets invited to a reunion party at Craig's new apartment, not knowing he'll be right in the centre of drama, drunken pals, and most importantly...a kissing game!Cheesy summary IS cheesy r.i.p[[Stan's POV throughout, however doesn't just focus on him. Rating is for your usual foul mouthed South Parkers and some mention of sexual content]]





	1. Party on Saturday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Ho! So as i said in the summary, this fic is all from Stan's POV, however does NOT solely focus on him. I tried to include as many characters as I could into this fic because I just love everyone, so expect side stories! PLENTY of pairings, straight gay and bi characters! Some pairings are more focused on than others.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Wandering in to the bar sluggishly after a long day of work, I seat myself in the centre of Skeeter's infamous bar. The only people in there were a couple of elderly men, plus Skeeter, who was chatting up one of the mom's of a kid I went to middle school with. But it was a Wednesday evening and definitely not one of their busiest times.

"Heya Stan!" He pauses to acknowledge me walk in, "I saw your dad come in the other night, 'said your junior baseball team won the regionals!" I nod tiredly. My job is coaching the baseball team in an elementary school just on the border of Colorado. I have to get a train there and back everyday, but the money and the rewards are worth it. They even asked if I wanted to teach as a substitute back at South Park Elementary. The principal called me himself; it wasn't PC Principal though. I heard he was fired for having relations with another teacher. But I decided not to take the job; I wanted to travel and see new places.

I tend to come in to Skeeter's frequently, maybe once or twice a week after work. Enough for them to know what I want to drink.

"Alright I'm heading off now…hey B!" Skeeter leans over the bar and yells into the storage room, "Stan's here, bring in s'more whiskey from the back while you're in there will ya? Have a nice weekend!"

Out walks Bebe Stevens, an old time friend from elementary school. She's a college student hoping to become a professional dancer, but she's home for the summer right now, so she's earning some extra dollars in the bar. She's very close to Skeeter's daughter Rebecca, so Skeeter trusts her to run the place on her own whenever he needs it.

"We going with a single shot, or have those kids made you want that double today?"

"Nah, just single today Bebe. Thanks"

She pours my drink swiftly as usual, and slides it over. "How's work going?"

I sigh, "Alright I guess. Think they're looking at increasing my salary. College?"

" _Pssh_ , like you need it. And college…..yeeeaah it's ok. Got another show in a couple weeks, rehearsals are tough. Fancy covering me here so I can go take the biggest nap of my life?"

"I'll pass, I couldn't deal with the assholes you get coming in here. Your patience is impressive."

She scoffs, "Oh Stan you should've seen it…some dude and his wife were in here last night, the wife wanted fucking _elderflower_ in her G&T…..bitch you're at Skeeters, do we look like we have any god damn elderflower? It would've been sweet if the man didn't start yelling at me for not having a great deal of gins on offer. I don't know how I keep myself so composed sometimes"

She leans forward on the bar and grabs her mobile phone from her back pocket. The two of us laugh about some really random Facebook posts and videos, before the front door opens once again. And it was definitely a face I didn't expect to see in here.

"Uh-hey fellas! I figured you'd be in here Stan!"

Butters is definitely not the kind of guy to walk into bars. He's grown up to have some kind of weird intolerance to alcohol. Rumour has it he tried some out of peer pressure when he started high school, and ended up in such a state that he wound up next to the river completely butt naked somehow, and unconscious. The kids at high school knew him as "Butters the Bar Crawler", and I think that made him want to prove he wasn't as bad as they made out. I mean I don't blame the guy, but it does make me wonder what on earth happened that night.

"Hey ho Butters! Haven't seen you for a while, what brings you here? In a bar, no less? Nice weather tonight for a skinny dip actually..."

"Shut up Bebe! I'm not here for that! N-n-not like that's what I'd do normally if I came here…..not like I'd do that even if I DIDN'T come here….alcohol makes you all f-funny and stuff…like when you see those videos of dogs that are really tired but are still standing up? I don't know how you guys can feel like that...ALL the time when you drink that stuff!"

Bebe looks at me unamused, then back at Butters. "…you really need to get laid sweetie."

"So what you here for Butters?"

"Sooo yesterday I was speaking to Jimmy, and Jimmy said that he went to Craig's new apartment last week and it's hella HUGE! But anyway he said that he told Craig he should have a party and invite all the people we used to go to school with, l-like a reunion! So Craig said sure, and now he's having a reunion party at his big apartment this Saturday!"

Bebe tossed her hair and put her hand on her chest in shock, "What?! Why the fuck have I not heard anything about this? Am I not invited?!"

"Oh no no! Everyone's invited! But Craig kinda left the guest list to Jimmy because he said he couldn't be bothered to do it, and Jimmy's been busy with his journalism, so he asked me to help him out and here I am!"

Bebe stands up straight looking back down at her phone, quite clearly excited. "Nice! I'll set up a group chat with the girls and let them know, I'll leave the rest of the guys to you Butters!"

"I don't have Facebook, but I'm free all day tomorrow so I can go visitin' folks!" he smiles optimistically. I wonder if he knows that this party will be 100% filled with the alcohol he so despises.

I smile at the two of them; this should be pretty good. But then something hits me.

"Oh shit...will Wendy be coming?"

Bebe rolls her eyes, "Prolly dude, I can't invite all the others and NOT her…"

Wendy and I haven't spoken for 2 years, at LEAST. And we didn't leave things on good terms, either. The last time I saw her she was crying and yelling at me because I'd missed her grandfather's funeral for a house party. At a girl's house, no less. We'd endlessly argued for days and days until she finally broke up with me that night, and decided we should completely cut ties. And I know we've said that before, but by the look in her eyes alone I could tell she meant it for real this time. I really took a downward spiral after that; I began drinking again, I started smoking tobacco, I slept around a bit, but I don't think any of that made me feel better at all. Damn, she was my first love, and my only love to this day. I knew it was gonna be hard seeing her again. But I wanted to.

"Don't worry, if anything happens you know I'll be the number one couple's therapist. I'm used to it from school."

"Bebe, don't even go there. You made me stand outside her window with a damn boombox as she was in her bedroom with Token."

"I had no idea she was dating Token okay! But what I DO know is that she's single again right now, so you don't have to worry about a guy pulling a Token on you at the weekend"

The problem with Bebe being good friends with both me and Wendy is that she ships us together. HARD. And will do absolutely anything to push us back together. She gave up after our big breakup though, because I think even she saw how serious Wendy was about it.

Butters pipes up once again, with another sensitive topic.

"Speaking of rocky relationships…how's things with Clyde?"

She laughs hysterically, suspiciously so. "Oh my GOD Butters how did you not know that we broke up last week? I'm sure Clyde would've posted like 20 status updates about how heartbroken he is— oh yeah, you're lame and don't have Facebook."

I check my news feed, she was most definitely right. What 20 year old guy writes a post saying " _im cryin so much ))': I'm lost without u baby xoxox_ "?

I decided to question it, "Okay I didn't actually know until now either….what happened there?"

"He cheated on me. Or at least said he did. And said he did it because he could do better than me…then tried to say he DIDN'T cheat on me and was only joking…remind me to ask Jimmy to teach Clyde what a joke actually means."

Yup, that sounds very Clyde-like.

I sigh, "Well at least I won't be the only one dealing with an ex at this party."

"No it's definitely not just us…Red and Kevin, Heidi and Cartman…"

Butters butts in, "Actually I'm sure that Eric and Heidi have been friends since they broke up. Eric visits her while she's working at her dad's gym sometimes"

Cartman? At the gym? Hardly believable.

"Oh, that's….nice..." Bebe says sarcastically; I don't think a single one of the girls at school approved of Heidi dating Cartman. Not like many of the guys did either. Especially Kyle. "I think Heidi should be more concerned about Kyle than Cartman….Kyle's her ex too you know."

Ouch, I remember that too well. I don't think I'd ever seen Cartman so filled with rage…..but I guess Kyle did steal his girl. Kyle of all people. And I'm not talking once either. After Heidi broke up with Cartman the second time, one of Heidi's friends saw her making out with Kyle round the back of the movie theatre. And as expected from the girls, it easily found it's way back to Cartman within a matter of days. I remember Kenny and I having to restrain him because he had immediately stormed to Kyle's house and started kicking and punching the front door over and over, screaming like a mad man. I was surprised Sheila and Gerald hadn't called the cops on him. Thankfully, Cartman doesn't hold grudges and he'd forgotten about it within a month or so, and went back to hating Kyle in his normal casual fashion, rather than a psychotic fashion.

Who am I kidding? Cartman's always been psychotic.

After a few moments of awkward silence between us, Butters yells out so that I almost crap myself. "OOOOH! Bebe I don't suppose you've got a pen and paper? i'm gonna write a guest checklist!"

I snicker, "Butters you're really enthusiastic about this aren't you? Considering you'll probably be the only sober one there."

"It's okay, I'll just get drunk on the atmosphere!"

Bebe wanders to the other side of the bar, bringing back a small notebook and pen. "If you wanna start with the chicks, I'm gonna ask Wendy, Red, Heidi, Nichole, Annie, Lola, Jenny, Theresa, Isla, and Nelly. They'll all be able to make it and I'll make SURE of it….And obviously I'll be there too."

I help him out, "So for the guys you'll have me and Kyle, Cartman and Kenny, Yourself…"

"Craig's crew obviously. But I think those guys still have a group chat. Token, Clyde, Jimmy…oh, and Tweek! You don't even NEED to ask him."

Craig and Tweek remained as close as they were in elementary school. But the question among everyone still stands; whether they actually were dating or not. Personally, I think it's more of a strong bro-mance. But I can't say for sure.

"Kevin Stoley…Jason White...we missed anybody?"

Bebe shrugs, "I think that's everyone in our class."

"NEATO! I'll go see who else might be roaming around town! See you at the weekend fellas!" Butters merrily trots out of the bar, his pen scanning the paper, obviously deep in thought about where he can find them. It wasn't long before I'd finished my drink and was walking back home myself, ready to shove something simple to eat in the microwave and chill out before an early night.


	2. Blue Balls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan arrives at the party and reunites with his friends, and we learn a little bit about what Kyle, Kenny, Cartman and Butters got up to after graduation.

Saturday came around a lot quicker than I thought it would. For some reason I decided to scrub myself up pretty smart; I suppose because it's been a good few years since I've seen everyone, and I gotta give the impression I'm living life well. I'd bought a ton of beer for myself and shoved the cans in a rucksack, the only issue was actually catching a ride to Craig's apartment. I'd asked Shelley if she could stop by and take me, but she was way too cosy with this tattoo artist boyfriend she had, and really had a problem even leaving his house for 10 minutes. She actually moved out pretty early, she was 19 when she started dating him and it took only 5 months for her to move in with him. But the house feels a lot more spacious now that she's gone.

I finally see my mom pull into the driveway after staying in work for a few extra hours. It's 9pm; two hours after the time Craig had asked everyone to arrive for. But I think I'm good; I'm wearing my favourite short sleeved navy-coloured button up shirt, black skinny jeans and new black vans, so at least if I'm gonna be late I'll be _fashionably_ late.

I grab the beer bag and jump into my mom's car, setting off for Craig's apartment. He's on the outside of town but it's not an area I'm familiar with. Probably one of the recent commercial districts. It's actually a pretty nice part of town, makes me wonder how Craig managed to end up here.

After playing the part of navigator/agony aunt for my mom to talk about her stressful day at work, we finally arrive at a pretty small apartment complex with a small private car park hidden around the back. I jump out of the car, checking out the place.

"Make sure you text me letting me know whether I need to wait up for you or not! Have fun!" I nod and thank her as she waves me off. Damn, even at 21 years of age my mother can't trust me with my own house key. But if this were like any other house party, it's very likely I won't be back home until the morning.

* * *

Walking through the car park, I notice a lone 4-by-4 car pull in just after us; quite obviously an expensive model. A smartly-dressed couple jump out and loop round to the trunk opening it up. it didn't take me long to notice that the couple were none other than Token Black and Nichole Daniels.

Yep, they're still going strong.

"Stan! Heeeey!" Nichole greets me while running over and giving me a hug. Token grabs my hand and pats my back, "How's it going Stan!"

"See Token! Didn't I say we wouldn't be the only late ones?!"

"You did. How come you're rolling up at this time anyway?"

I shrug, "It was the only time I could get a ride up here. What about you guys? I never knew you two to be late like, ever!"

"I didn't finish work until 7.30pm…and obviously, as girls do, I had to get ready!" Nichole says, lifting a plastic crate out of Token's trunk. The crate is filled with _at least_ 20 different bottles of assorted alcoholic drinks. Closer inspection reveals them to be good quality brands, they wouldn't have been cheap to buy. Typical Token. The best of it is, there's 2 more crates of them in the trunk.

"Hey let me get that," in true gentlemanly fashion, I take the crate out of Nichole's arms. "So have you seen Craig's new apartment already Token?"

"Only briefly," he grunts, lifting one of the heavy boxes, "I dropped off one of my portable speakers yesterday so that he could use it for the party, but I only saw it through the doorway, since he had some his family over. Look's pretty big though! Have you seen it?"

"Nah, I haven't seen Craig since we all left high school. The only people I've seen since then are Kyle, Kenny, Cartman on occasions, Wendy, Bebe, and Butters maybe like three times?"

It was expected that me Kyle Kenny and Cartman would still be in touch after school. Although the group began to get more independent as we all got our own different priorities. Kyle went off to a prestigious university, and comes back maybe once every three months, in which usually only the two of us hang out. He's studying the sciences, in hopes of becoming a lab technician someday. He said he wants to cure incurable diseases, and I gotta say the guy's ambitions are really inspiring.

Cartman is still living with his mom, while she still works multiple jobs to support him. It isn't like he's not working; he managed to get himself a job at the local Arby's. Burger flipping, day in, day out. And occasionally he'll call the three of us up and ask if we can do something " _super super awesome_ ". He never just hangs out anymore, it has to be something big, like a road trip or a trip to the amusement park, for him to even want to see us. I get the impression he spends a lot of time on his own.

Kenny has moved away from his parents, and moved in with his brother Kevin in a bungalow they're renting. He also took Karen with him, saying neither of them could stand the atmosphere in the house anymore. Kenny's home life has never been peaceful, but since the kids have grown older it's become harder and harder for them to get along with their parents. Kevin has a huge hatred for their father, Stuart, so he left home as soon as he was financially able to. Kenny started working as a cleaner at multiple different places, and after a lot of pondering, decided that he and his sister would be better off away from their parents and with the support of their older brother, who had landed himself an office job somewhere. Karen even got herself a little part time waitress job at the weekend. The three of them are doing pretty well as a team; Kenny's even thinking of going to college soon.

* * *

Nichole holds the door open for us and the three of us trudge up the stairs, with me leading the way.

"Second floor. Number 8." Token shouts up to me. I stop at the door reading '8', panting from carrying the weight of the crate AND my rucksack of beer. Nichole loops behind me and knocks on the door.

Trust Craig not to answer the door to his own house; opening the front door is his cousin Rebecca Tucker, better known as Red. Behind her stands Annie Knitts, another member of Wendy's girl clique. They were the closest to her, besides Bebe, and always stuck up for her. I haven't spoken to either of them since Wendy and I split. I prepare to receive two very intense glares as the door opens.

But instead, I receive a flying hug from Red, and a coy wave from Annie. Red always seemed to take a liking to me in particular, but I don't recall her ever hugging me….maybe she'd gotten quite a bit of a head-start on the alcohol?

The two of them took a few moments to notice Nichole and Token hiding behind me. The two of them literally launched themselves at Nichole, squealing in sync, and almost knocking me and the beer stash flying.

"Oh my _god_ , we didn't think you were coming!" Red exclaims, going to hold the door open for me and Token, "Come in come in! Craig's in the kitchen with the rest of the guys! Where the rest of the alcohol is, obviously!"

Walking forward blindly into the apartment, I take a moment to look around. Damn, he's done a pretty good job getting this place. The apartment was very brightly coloured, sporting a colour scheme of white and teal, with very modern-style furniture. The main room consisted of a big L-shaped sofa and a lounge chair, and flatscreen TV up on the wall. The wall to the right was covered with long windows reaching the floor, with the view of the road below and the community buildings all lit up at night. The room was fairly dark aside from several lava lamps and counter top lamps. The wall to the left had a giant piece of pop art on it, and some scattered canvasses showing Craig's family and friends. There was a picture of Craig with his arm over Tweek's shoulder, and another one that's a selfie Clyde took of himself with Craig, Token and Jimmy back in high school. There was even a canvas solely dedicated to Stripe (whichever number Stripe he was on at the moment). I didn't expect Craig to have such meaningful photos up on the wall like that.

The wall to the far side of the room had a glass-less window on it, and an archway, leading through to a sectioned-off kitchen. I could hear the voices and chuckles of multiple guys behind there, so I decide to trudge over there with Token, as Nichole rushed off to reunite with the girls somewhere.

"What's up guys, I made it!" Dropping the crate on the table, I greet my old classmates. Craig, Clyde, Tweek, Kevin, Jason and, right in the centre, Cartman. Each sporting a beer. I receive several 'heeeey's and 'yooo's, accompanied with handshakes and bro-hugs. Token closely following suit.

Craig peers into one of the crates we'd brought in. "Token…you are _THE_ fucking man."

Token chuckles, "It's nothing! You said you wanted liquor so that's what I got!"

Cartman shoves his way in between us, also looking in. He pulls out one of the bottles, "Space Barley?! Duuuude this is what rich people drink!"

Craig snatches the bottle out of his hands, "Well duh. This is Token we're talking about here. Rising entrepreneur AND millionaire's son."

Jason elbows Token, "Oh yeah! Suit jackets to make the girls _scream_!"

Token blushes. I noticed he was actually wearing one of his own suit jackets to the party, inscribed with a little 'T' in a fancy font. I see him and Nichole advertising it a lot. Looks like they're doing pretty well with the business.

Craig cracks open his newfound bottle, turning towards me. "So anyway, Marsh, what's been happening with you?"

"Well I'm no entrepreneur, but I'm teaching at an elementary up in Fort Collins."

"Teaching, huh?" Tweek joins in, "Teaching w-what?"

"He teaches little scrotums how to play baseball…you know, that one sport we all hated in elementary?" Cartman interrupts.

"Well yeah, I have my own junior baseball team. But I substitute some of their gym classes too."

"I'll bet he does a better job than our coach though," says Clyde, "Half the reason we hated it was because of him."

Cartman scoffs "Uhhh, no? We hated it because baseball sucks!"

"Argh-! Didn't Stan's dad get arrested for fighting another kid's dad?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose, "Oho, many many times…"

That was not a good memory. My dad has always been so patriotic, especially when it comes down to me and my sports. He doesn't often come to watch my juniors play in their league though. It must have been twice since I started this job that I've actually seen him sat in the bleachers. And he never cheered like he used to. I can't figure out whether it's because he's become disinterested, or he just doesn't have the time anymore. Sometimes I see him and he's super busy, and other times he's always out drinking or sat on the couch watching murder documentaries. But we definitely don't spend a lot of time together anymore, and honestly it's pretty upsetting.

Snapping myself out of those dreary thoughts, I take a beer out of my rucksack and put the bag on the floor next to some others on the kitchen floor. "Where's the other guys? Kyle? Ken?"

"They're in my room, Kenny's having a smoke in there. That's the designated smoking room, just so ya know." Craig points through a door leading into a corridor, "Last door at the very end."

"Thanks."

Walking into the corridor I pass two other rooms with their doors ajar. One is a spare bedroom with a double bed, and the other is the bathroom containing Lola as she touches up her makeup in the mirror, and Jenny Simon accompanying her, while she gossips about something. They see me walking past, and give me a quick wave mid-gossip.

* * *

Entering the last door, I step into a very messy but pretty spacious bedroom. Kyle and Jimmy are sitting on Craig's king-sized bed, Butters is sat on the floor petting Stripe, and Kenny is at the far end of the room, sticking his head out of the balcony door, cigarette in hand. It looks like I've walked into the middle of a conversation, and the guys don't notice me straight away.

Kyle is talking to Jimmy, "Yeah dude, but if she doesn't want sex just yet, it's better to respect her wishes."

Jimmy looks a little concerned, sipping a can of beer. "But...then w-what if she never asks for it? What if I'm left forever b-b-b-blue balled?"

"Why would a girl _not_ want sex…" Kenny takes a drag off his cigarette, "That's the weirdest shit I ever heard."

"S-she says she feels it's too early in the relationship f-for her.."

Butters sets Stripe on his lap, "You know, she could just be on her period? No girl wants to make your bed look like a murder scene!" he giggles, earning Kenny to blow a raspberry.

"No girl is on her period for 4 months Butters."

The conversation seemed to pause there, and it felt right for me to make myself known. "Wendy was like that at first Jim, just wait it out. It'll come eventually"

Kyle's face lights up, "Aw hey dude! What took you so long?"

"I spent too long arguing with Shelley trying to get her to bring me here. I ended up waiting for mom to finish work instead."

"Well why didn't ya say so?!" Butters jumps up, giving me an overly enthusiastic hug with one arm, "I drove my car up here, I could've picked you up on the way to Wendy's and Jimmy's!"

"Oh." I just smile. Even if he had offered to pick me up, I would've turned it down. Somehow I don't think it'd be a very enjoyable experience sitting in a car with Wendy for 15 to 20 minutes. Especially since we haven't spoken in so long.

"So…" I walk over next to Kyle, he shuffles to the side to make space and I plonk myself onto the bed next to him, "You're staying over too Butters? I think Token and his girlfriend are staying too, since Token pulled up in his car just now, came in and jumped straight into the box of alcohol. And with Nichole not being able to drive…"

"Oh-ho, no! I'm driving home silly! I have church in the afternoon tomorrow!"

Butters was the only one of us to actually stick to his Catholic faith. The rest of us only went to church when we were younger because our families went. But if anyone asked us what our religious beliefs were, we'd probably all still say Roman Catholic. Ruling out Kyle, of course.

I'm actually surprised that Butters managed to fit more than one person in his car. Whenever I see him driving around town, his car is stuffed with art supplies, and the backseat is normally home to a giant canvas of some kind. Nobody was surprised to hear that Butters went into the art industry to work; he would be drawing pictures all the time at school, and creating costumes for his friends if they were to ever need them. He's ambitious, just like Kyle, and while he may still be low on the career ladder right now, the guy's got a lot of talent to truly make it where he wants to be.

"You really think _our_ Butters would stay until he passed out? Where's your head at, dude?" Kenny gestures the cigarette towards me, offering a drag.

I shake my head in return. While I was a regular smoker for the longest time, I somehow managed to reduce the amount I smoked until I became only a social smoker.

"I guess not." I reply, "But hey, what's this I hear about Jimmy and blue-balls?"

Kyle elbows Jimmy, wiggling his eyebrows. "He's got a girlfriend. The first one since high school. They've been together 4 months and they _still_ haven't slept together!"

"Not even a b-b-blowie…" Jimmy sighs.

"God damn" I reach over and pat Jimmy's knee in sympathy, "Like I said, be patient. She'll come around."

"Yeah she won't be able to resist you much longer, Jimmy!" Kenny winks, "Tell her a few jokes and her panties will be by her ankles in seconds!"

"While I have t-tried that in the past, K-Ken, it only earned me a slap in face."

"Hmph. Must've been the wrong girl then. I'm certain I've joked myself into a girl's bed before. Maybe twice."

Throwing his cigarette butt out of the window, Kenny violently throws himself onto the end of the bed, on his side with his head leaning on his hand. The regular cheesy shit.

"Speaking about girl's and that, what's the deal boys? Are we on the lookout tonight?"

Kyle and I look at each other and he rolls his eyes. Kyle's never been the type to actively seek out girls. "I'm still single, if that's what you mean?"

"And me" I add. Butters is lucky if any girl even approaches him, and as for Kenny himself, I don't think he even knows what a relationship _is_.

"Well my friends, the three of us are in luck tonight. ALL of the girls here are single. Besides Nichole, Nelly and Theresa."

Kyle sighs, "Okay, but if, or WHEN, you're planning on putting some moves on a girl, make sure Nelly isn't around."

"Awww, it's cool. If she gets a little jealous, I'll let her join in!"

"I'm sure her GIRLFRIEND wouldn't appreciate that, Kenny..."

Everybody knew not to mess with Nelly. She acted as all of the girls' personal bodyguard at school. She was tough, spoke her mind, and was _extremely_ protective of her friends. If one of them had their heart broken by a guy, Nelly would actively find them and challenge them head on. And boy, she could overpower even grown men. Butters was the first guy ever in our school to get on Nelly's bad side; he was wheeled off in an ambulance by the end of the confrontation. Bones have been broken, tears have been shed, and boy's dignities have been lost. All because of Nelly.

Kenny turns his head towards Butters, who's been in his own little world this entire time. "Butters, you haven't had much to say. Reckon we could get you _mingling_ tonight too?"

He seems completely oblivious, "M-mingling?"

"Yeah! Get you laid! Don't you think it's about time?"

Butters pouts, "I told you! I already did a laid with somebody!"

Kyle laughs, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but lying next to a girl and cuddling with her for a while doesn't count as getting laid."

"Dude, AND you were both fully dressed. That's not even _close_!" says Kenny, "Don't worry pal, we'll get you and your little snake some lovin' soon enough!"

Butters just sighs and goes back to petting Stripe. He could probably do it if he really wanted to, but I don't think he's really assed about it.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .......and he won't be the only one getting some lovin'! But you didn't hear that from me shhhhhhhh


	3. Rum and Cola

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Stan continues to get comfortable at the party, we find out a little bit about what Craig, Tweek and Clyde are doing with their lives. Plus Bebe comes up with a little game that everyone can play...

I spot Bebe standing with Nelly in the kitchen, the two of them leaning forward on the counter and analysing the population of the party. It's weird for Bebe to be separated from the rest of the girls, so Kyle and I approach her. Like the majority of the other girls there, she's wearing a dress, perhaps a little too formal for the occasion.

"I never knew Craig hired surveillance for his party?" I lean on the counter next to Bebe.

"We're just people watching. It's pretty interesting seeing how people behave at parties sometimes. See look there, how Craig looms over Tweek like that? Doesn't it remind you of like a really protective mother? Bless his soul. That's husband material right there."

She stands up, putting her arm on my shoulder while sipping her wine. She gestures towards a different group of people.

" ' _And here you can see an indigenous Clyde Donovan, in his natural habitat, attempting to mate with the female variety.'_ "

Clyde is indeed, and unsurprisingly, getting his flirt on. He's sat on the arm of the couch, rambling about something, while Theresa and Isla sit nodding and pretending to listen to him.

"Fuck me, doesn't he know that Theresa's taken?" Nelly snaps, "As for Isla, he's not her type at all. 10/10 for effort, but just let them go already!"

Kyle decides to chime in too, " _Really_ Clyde? Already?"

Bebe shakes her head, "Nah. He's doing it to try and make me jealous. I can see right through him. He does this kind of shit all the time."

"So do you think he actually cheated on you then?" I ask.

"I'll admit, when I first heard it, I was devastated. I screamed at him so much I had no voice the next day... But now I think about it I don't think he has the gall to cheat on me. Even on our break a few months ago I told him he could get with anybody he wants, but he just stayed messaging me the entire time. I just don't think he's a cheater at all."

Kyle raises an eyebrow at me, "…soooo why would he say that if he didn't cheat on you?"

Nelly interrupts, "Because it's a pathetic attempt at riling her up. Guys like him have this weird fetish where they like to piss off their girlfriends, and then act all surprised when their stupid ass gets dumped. It truly beats me."

Bebe rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to commentating on Clyde, who's about to be interrupted by an approaching Kevin.

" _'And here we witness a very timid Kevin Stoley, who's about the ruin the moment again. As usual.'_ "

"I wonder how things are with him and Red…" Nelly queries.

Bebe scoffs, "Those two aren't speaking either. Damn, it's the gathering of the salty exes! Me and Clyde, Kevin and Red, Stan and Wendy—"

"Me and Heidi." Kyle adds. The girls turn to him, looking rather shocked.

"Wait what? I thought you guys were chill, and Cartman was the one with the issue?"

He looks at the ground, "Well yeah but…it's been a while, and it's pretty awkward. You know, since those two have been hanging out and me and her haven't…plus she didn't even say hi to me when she came in. I think maybe Fatass has forced some more of his 'I hate Kyle' propaganda onto her again."

"Hmm…" Nelly rests her chin on her hand, "That's weird…she was talking about you quite a bit earlier."

"…s-she was?"

"Oh yeah. She was saying how she thought you were dressed pretty smart for a house party. And something about you both getting confident when you drink. I think she was hinting at putting the moves on you?" She points a stern finger towards Kyle, "And that did NOT come from me, okay?"

"Oooo _Kyley B!_ " Bebe enthusiastically yells, "That's your cue right there buddy! Put that ass to work!" She playfully taps Kyle's ass, causing him to jump and blush a little. Bebe's always had this weird fixation with his ass, even going back to the third grade. But it's more of a friendly tease now, in comparison to when she had the biggest crush on him. She knows it makes him flustered and uses it against him.

"That's definitely an excuse to down some shots, come friends!" Bebe hurries over to where there are several bottles of liquor lined up on the counter, tearing the packaging off of some plastic shot glasses that Craig had bought for the occasion. She extracts four of them, placing one in front of each of us. Kyle looks at me and shrugs, knowing that even if he did try and protest, Bebe would probably force it down his throat.

"Rum or vodka?" She picks up two bottles, shaking them playfully.

" **Vodka?!** " Kyle yells, almost choking on his beer.

"Alright, vodka it is!" Bebe says, placing the rum bottle back where she found it.

"N-no! I didn't mean it like that, I mean isn't that a little strong to start with?!"

Nelly groans, "Kyle shut the fuck up and take the damn shot. You ain't gonna die." Kyle goes quiet and waits anxiously while Bebe pours the poison into our glasses.

After she's finished, Bebe raises her shot and makes a toast. "Here's to a fucking awesome night! And that Kyle gets to bang Heidi! And that me and Stan and Clyde and Wendy don't have any drama! LET'S GO!"

In unison we all down the shots. The shot itself reminds me of the days where I'd feel so shitty that I'd drink vodka straight from the bottle. The taste isn't even that sour anymore to me, but no doubt, it still tastes like damn petrol. Immediately afterwards, I can hear Kyle cough violently and he frantically reaches for his beer to wash it down. Nelly doesn't even stir, and Bebe grins afterwards almost like it had immediately hit her.

"Okay boys, I think me and Nell have done enough surveillance for one night, shift's over! See ya around!" The two girls wander off into one of the other rooms to look for more people to socialise with.

I notice Kyle looking over at Heidi, who's still engaged in conversation with Cartman.

"So what are you gonna do about Heidi? You gonna talk to her first or?"

"I dunno man. I'll just see how it goes. I don't wanna cause any necessary beef with Cartman that'll stress her out. If the girls say she's planning on talking to me, then she probably will. I'll wait until she's ready."

Damn, he definitely seems like he's got his relationship head on, despite not wanting anything serious. His university degree is really important to him and he doesn't want anything to even slightly jeopardise his chances of reaching the top. Even if it is Heidi Turner.

* * *

About a couple hours after I arrived at the party, I find myself sat comfortably on the lounge chair engaging with Clyde, Craig and Tweek. We'd been there a while filling each other in with what had happened in our lives since school. We were pretty close at school, so much so that they started regularly hanging out with Kyle, Kenny, Eric and I. Our group were sort of known as the popular boy gang in our grade, although we ourselves didn't really feel like we stood out from everyone else. But somehow most people in our grade knew who we were. I mean, that's probably down to Cartman and all of his antics. We couldn't possibly stay on the down-low with him around...

Despite his laid back couldn't-give-a-fuck attitude to life, Craig knew about everyone at the party and what they were doing. Jason worked in administration, Kevin was studying graphic design, Red had become a hair stylist and Annie followed her sometime after, Nichole worked as a hotel receptionist alongside helping Token with his apparel business. Jenny worked in a clothes store, so did Isla, but somewhere else. Lola was striving to become an air hostess, Theresa did waitressing and Nelly apparently was involved in something to do with equestrianism.

Craig himself acquired his own apartment by buying and selling automobiles. It was an idea of his dad's who initially introduced him into it. He doesn't even have to interact with his customers, he simply puts on a suit, drives their car over to them, shoves them some papers to sign, and that's basically it. Somehow he gets out of the majority of the complicated tasks involved with the job, yet is paid a damn lot, not that much less than his superiors. It's a pretty enviable career. However much the little prick didn't really earn his place there, I'm glad to see him living a good life.

Clyde, however, is a completely different story. For some reason, he decided to become a construction apprentice. Nobody really knew why because he never mentioned wanting to take that career path at all. He's been an apprentice for almost 3 years now, but he hasn't even passed his first year of training. He's always been a hard worker, however he's not the brightest bulb. The only reason he's still there is down to his father being close with Clyde's boss. I could tell when he was describing stories from work that he didn't enjoy his job one bit. I don't think the guy really knows what he wants. But then again not a lot of us did when we left school.

I asked him if he intended on leaving and he said no, and that his father needed him to do it, because he can't do anything else. Ever since his mother died, Clyde and his older sister had to help their father out of a really rough place. Roger Donovan was an older dad, and especially now, he's stressed beyond belief. Clyde's sister has a family of her own now, therefore it's down to Clyde to support him. So I totally get why Clyde wouldn't want to mess anything up. He's definitely doing the best he can, no doubt.

Despite Clyde's lack of progress, Tweek was the only one out of all of us to have not chased a new career at all. He still slaves away for his parents, only now their coffee company has been bought by Harbuck's. He works long hours of making coffee, cleaning, serving, and maintaining stock. His parents maybe do half of what Tweek does, and honestly I feel really bad for him. Back in school, Tweek was pretty invested in playing the piano, and was super talented at it when he wasn't freaking out. But he never even got the chance to consider pursuing it, because his parents gave him no choice but to work for them. And with Tweek being mentally weak, he never knew any better. Luckily the guys, especially Craig, help him to de-stress and often go to Harbuck's to visit him while he's working. I'm even sure I heard something about Craig giving him tips.

The only member of the group Craig didn't tell me about was Wendy, which he probably assumed I knew about. But I didn't. I gave her space after our breakup and we both deleted every trace of each other off our phones. But knowing her it'll be something academic, she's always been intelligent at basically every subject thrown at her.

* * *

"Dude, you've been babysitting that empty beer can for like 30 minutes now. What the fuck are you doing?" Craig moans at me, still sitting on the couch next to Tweek.

I flip him off in the same fashion that he always used to. "I'm going, alright?"

"It's okay, I'm gonna go take a leak I'll grab it on my way back." Clyde stands up from sitting on the floor, he's pretty buzzed already. "What is it you're drinking? Corona?"

Before I can answer, Craig interrupts. "Make sure you wash your hands, I don't want your piss all over my cup." He says, shoving his red plastic cup in Clyde's direction. "And get Stan a double rum and cola."

" _What?_ " I say, taken aback. Craig has obviously had enough to drink that he now thinks he can call the shots. With no pun intended.

"Suck it up, Marsh. You need more."

I just roll my eyes in return. Clyde looks at me, almost as if he's asking for my approval, but I don't protest. He smiles at me, and makes his way towards the bathroom.

Tweek, who's been fairly quietly for a little bit, decides to speak up.

"You can definitely t-tell he's uncomfortable around Bebe…"

Craig shrugs, "It won't take him long to get over it. After all this is like…the fifth time they've broken up."

"Gh, d-do you think he cheated on her or not?"

"I dunno. Maybe."

Unsuccessful getting an answer out of Craig, Tweek turns to me. "What do you reckon Stan?"

"Oh, uh…from what Bebe said, he may have just lied about it. At least that's what she thinks."

"He likes to get a reaction. Always has done." Craig looks over at Bebe, who's giggling with some of the girls. "The two of em will always be together. They're both dumbass attention-whores."

"Hey!" Tweek elbows him frowning, "Not cool! Bebe's always been nice to you! Rip on Clyde all you want but Bebe's always had your back!"

"Doesn't stop her being a prostitute for attention."

" _Craig!_ "

Craig sighs, "Alright Mom! I won't talk shit about her no more…"

Damn. Craig pretty quickly submitted to Tweek, and Craig doesn't submit to anyone. The way those two act together doesn't help the relationship rumours. If they even are rumours...

A few moments later, Clyde returns with two plastic cups and hands them out.

"Thanks, piss hands." says Craig.

"Fuck you Craig." Clyde retorts, handing me my cup. "I'll piss in your next drink."

"Classy..."

Lifting the cup towards my face, a strong smell immediately hits me square on. Christ, I'm almost scared to take a sip.

And scared I should have been. Sipping the cup caused me to gag a little. I used to drink quite a bit of rum when I first started drinking so I was pretty used to it. I don't know what Clyde had done, but this was definitely NOT rum. And was definitely more than a double shot.

My reaction doesn't go unnoticed. Tweek laughs a little.

"H-hey Stan, you ok there?"

"Heh. I'm fine. I think Clyde is trying to poison me though."

"Look, I may have ' _accidentally_ ' poured too much in. The bottle is heavy alright?!" Clyde proclaims.

Craig raises an eyebrow. "You fuckin' kidding me? The bottle is tiny. And wasn't even full to start with."

Clyde looks confused, "No, I had to open a new bottle. It wasn't tiny at all! I had to pour it with two hands!"

Craig pauses for a moment, before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"…...Clyde sometimes I wonder how you make it through the day when you're this stupid."

"What do you mean?!"

"If it was a big heavy bottle, it wasn't rum. You've probably given him whiskey or wine or something, you complete fucking _cabbage._ "

Clyde looks over at me guiltily, then back at Craig. "W-well…at least I got yours right!"

"Ehh. Could be stronger but it'll do." Craig retorts.

"Sorry Stan..." He says, taking his place back on the floor.

"Don't worry about it dude. I can drink it."

He just smiles back, obviously relieved that his work wasn't completely useless.

* * *

Not long after, his face drops when we get a visit from a very boisterous Bebe, who's holding a whole bottle of wine (which she's drinking straight from). She seems to be a little tipsy already.

"You all got drinks? Gooood. We're playing a game, I decided."

"Agh! A game?" Tweek looks troubled. "What kind of game?"

"A game for singletons. You'll see." She lifts her bottle in the air, using her other hand to grab her iPhone and bang it against the bottle, making a loud clanking noise. "Yo! All my single ladies! And single dudes! Get your asses over here, we're playing a drinking game!"

"Why the single ones?" Jason questions from the other side of the room.

"You'll see." She repeats.

It doesn't take long for the single girls to come and sit down and accompany Clyde on the floor. Kenny is also very quick to respond, pulling up a chair next to me.

The other guys aren't as quick, and Bebe ends up having to round them up from different parts of the apartment. They disperse themselves in between the girls on the floor. Before you know it, our small gathering had turned into a circle of people. Consisting of 7 girls: Bebe, Red, Lola, Annie, Heidi, Isla, and worryingly, Wendy. And 8 guys: myself, Clyde, Craig, Tweek, Kyle, Kenny, Cartman and Jason.

Jimmy, Token, Nichole, Nelly and Theresa were all in relationships, so did their own thing nearby. Jenny didn't participate either for some reason. Kevin Stoley was nowhere to be found, and Butters had followed Jimmy into another room hoping that Kenny wouldn't notice him. And lucky for him, Kenny didn't notice at all because he was way too eager to start the game.

Bebe squeezed herself in next to Craig on the couch. "This everybody? Alright here's the rules. Whoever goes first has to select someone in the group, and ask them to kiss someone in the room that relates to a certain criteria. For example, I might ask 'Stan, kiss someone who you think has had the most to drink tonight'. And Stan would have to kiss them. Then whoever is kissed has to ask someone else. And if anyone forfeits, they take 5 vodka shots. Capiche?"

The word 'kiss' caused a lot of people to start whispering and giggling. To no surprise, Cartman had something to say.

"Naaaw fuck that! I ain't letting any of you _skanks_ kiss me!"

"You say that like any of us want to…" Annie jests, earning a good amount of girlish giggles. I don't know why they're laughing, she probably means it.

"Shut up Annie! I'd rather eat my own vomit!"

Jason's face also goes sour, "Yeah I don't think I'm into this girlish game either."

"Bye then!" Lola waves, as Cartman and Jason storm off to find Jimmy and Butters. I'm not surprised to see that Cartman's still immature about girls, but I am surprised that he isn't interested in potentially kissing Heidi again. Maybe he won't cause a stir if Kyle decides to chat with her again.

"I'll kick things off-" Bebe starts, but is immediately put off by someone stood behind the couch. It's Kevin Stoley.

"Kev!" She turns and smiles at him. "Did you change your mind? Are you joining in?"

He awkwardly shifts his weight, and hesitates before responding. "…actually no…I-I was kinda hoping I could speak to Red."

Everyone looks over to Red, who's very clearly confused by her ex. She sighs, "…...right now?"

"Y-yeah…if that's alright."

For a moment, she looks annoyed to have been asked to sit the game out. But she stands up. "Sure. Lead the way." The two of them make their way into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"Well folks, it looks like we're not too old for Seven Minutes in Heaven after all!" Kenny jokes, a little too loudly.

"Eat a dick, Kenny." is all we hear from the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next couple chapters are where the pairings REALLY start to show! (ʃ ƪ¬‿¬)


	4. Love Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kissing game begins! New romances blossom, and some fall even deeper down the drain.

"Alright! As I was saying, I'll start things off," Bebe exclaims, sitting upright. "Lola, kiss whoever you think is the most caring guy."

"Okay!" Lola enthusiastically nods, getting up on to her hands and knees and crawls across the centre of the circle, towards Clyde. Kneeling in front of him. she cups his face with her hand and plants a soft kiss on his lips. Once she withdraws, Clyde's face perks up as he turns pink, while smiling goofily. That obviously did his ego wonders.

Lola went and sat back down on the floor, while Jenny Simon loomed over her like a bad smell, despite her not being involved in the game. The two were inseparable, and especially when together, were two of the biggest gossips in our grade. They matured slightly as they grew up, but still gave off a dangerous vibe. And by dangerous, I mean capable of destroying your reputation among the entire female population.

"So now it's your turn to ask somebody else Clyde." Bebe orders, as Clyde snaps himself out of his little daydream.

"Oh! Uhhh…Tweek." He says, pointing in Tweek's direction. This earns a scowl from Craig, clearly not happy that Clyde had put pressure on him so early on in the game. "Kiss the girl you think is the least bitchy."

Some of the girls laugh, while Tweek awkwardly shifts his sight around the room, trying to make up his mind who to pick. The others are patient with him as usual and let him take his time. Craig gives him a look as if to say 'you don't have to do it if you don't want to', but Tweek stands up regardless. Twiddling his fingers, he walks slowly over to Annie, hesitating before bending down and kissing her cheek. All the girls responding with ' _awws_ ' and coos, as Tweek couldn't get back to his seat any faster. Craig smiles at him, letting him know he's done a pretty courageous thing.

"Aww thank you Tweek!" chirps Annie, grinning brightly. "Is it my turn now? Okay…Isla! Kiss the person who you think is the best looking!"

Isla, being an extremely shy girl, clearly tenses up when her name is mentioned. Out of all of the girls she was the most submissive, often landing her in situations where she'd get screwed over simply for being too nice. The polar opposite of Nelly, she almost never speaks up unless spoken to directly. But there was something endearing and warm about her that made her as popular as she was, with both the girls and the boys.

Not saying a word, she scans the room nervously. She choses to avoid walking through the middle of the circle, and makes her way around the edge. She stops at me.

"S-sorry…" She apologises, before leaning over and planting her lips on mine. It was probably the quickest kiss I'd ever received, but it was soft, and it made me realise why perhaps some of the guys found her charming. I'm pretty surprised she had the courage to go for my lips, and not my cheek. But after all, it isn't like she's never had a boyfriend.

After taking in the compliment that Isla thought I was the most good-looking in the room, I think about who and what I'm gonna ask. There's a lot of exes and crushes in the room, and the last thing I want is to be the cause of some kind of drama. But, looking around the room, I realise that something could potentially happen if I asked _anyone_. So I go with someone who wouldn't judge me themselves. And neither would their ex.

"Okay then," I start, "Bebe. Go and kiss whoever you think has done the most regrettable thing!"

I'm kinda shocked at myself for saying something so controversial. Bebe can be unpredictable sometimes; she might go and make out with Clyde for cheating on her, or she might even snog me for upsetting Wendy. But neither of those were what she was thinking at all.

Without even a single moment to hesitate, she stood up, strut her way across the circle and straddled Kenny on his chair, forcefully making out with him. The rest of us looked at each other awkwardly, while also checking on Clyde, who had made himself look away from the act. He's most likely extremely jealous, but he's keeping his brave face on. When he were younger, he'd have normally already run away to cry by now, but he's toughened up a little with age. Although still very capable of weeping uncontrollably like a child when the emotions call for it.

"Wait," Kyle interrupts, "So what's this regrettable thing he's supposed to have done?"

"I know…" Kenny hums, looking at Bebe. "My most regrettable thing is that I haven't slept with you yet."

Bebe giggles before going back in for a kiss. I hear Clyde tutting besides me. I gotta admit, this isn't nice to watch. But because of the cheating rumours I can't really take a side with this one.

" _Noooo-_ " She says in a childlike voice, "I'm talking about that TV show you did when you were younger. The one where you did all that crazy stuff. I ain't gonna lie, it was kinda cringy."

I hear Kenny groan loudly, his buzz killed instantly. I don't blame him...that show was atrocious. And having the memory of Kenny engaging in…questionable…acts with people twice his age? He's done some pretty weird shit before, but that is something even he regrets. And it looks like it hit a sore spot.

Bebe also happens to notice, "Aww sweetie, I'm only joking! It was so cool seeing you on TV, you were fearless!"

Looking back at her, suddenly alleviated, he smiles and leans in to kiss her again as if nothing happened.

_Wow…put a chick in front of Kenny and he's happy no matter what..._

* * *

"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT. Jesus fucking Christ you two…..we're not about to watch a fucking porno." Craig shouts angrily, as Bebe and Kenny finish touching each other up. Kenny looks up at her grinning like a cheshire cat, before letting go of his grasp on her. Bebe strokes Kenny's hair before returning to the couch next to Craig, who for some reason shuffles away from her.

Heh, he's probably scared he'll catch some sort of heterosexual disease or something.

Craig always dated girls before the Tweek incident. In fact, he was probably one of the only guys, besides Kenny and Clyde, to have dated a good number of the girls in our grade. He wasn't really invested in the relationship side of things; I think he just wanted to assert his popular guy status. He liked some of the girls, he couldn't give a shit about others, but he definitely wasn't patient enough for any of the relationships to last more than a couple months.

He's been 'dating' Tweek since we were maybe 13 years old. They both just kind of got used to being called gay and 'got together' just to ease the heavy gossip surrounding them. The two were always close friends right from elementary, but the relationship rumours and accusations seemed to make them closer. They stood by each other to get through the worst of it, and that's when they realised that they both would never have a friend like each other. Don't get me wrong, they still argue sometimes and can split the gang up too. But I think their friends know that they'll always come back to each other no matter what.

It's a friendship similar to what I have with Kyle, only there's very clear differences with them to us...

"Stanley Marsh! I'm coming over to you, sugar!" I hear the drunken voice of Kenny holler at me out of the blue, making me jump out of my skin.

"What?" I say foolishly, like I have no idea we're playing this dumb game.

"I would like you…to go and VIOLENTLY make out with whichever chick you think is...the most intelligent!"

Oh Kenny, _you fucker!_ He damn well knows that Wendy is by far the most intelligent girl in the room! What the fuck!

I can't...I just can't kiss her. We haven't even spoken in 2 years, never mind _kissed_. And I know her; she wouldn't accept it if I did. It would piss her off and most likely make matters worse. But…I would like to kiss her again. Even if on the cheek. Even if anything at all. I can't deny I miss the touch of her soft skin. For a while I'd occasionally think about what it would be like to hold her again, stroke her hair, kiss her small, adorable lips…

All eyes in the room are on me. Fuck, I'm distracted. Wendy's looking at me too, with one eyebrow raised. I gotta kiss someone, but it can't be her. And I'm NOT taking those vodka shots.

Without even thinking, I scurry over to Lola, crouching down to hold her cheek and pecking her on the corner of her mouth. I was too frantic about how I should have kissed her, whether to do it on the cheek or the lips, and it turned out to be a pretty awkward exchange. But Lola smiled at me regardless.

_Well shit, that's gonna cause a lot of whispers..._

I sit back in my chair, shoving my hands into my pockets out of embarrassment. I briefly meet eyes with Wendy, who doesn't even look remotely shocked. She almost looked emotionless. Cold. It even sent a shiver down my spine.

Lola eventually speaks up, directing her turn to the same person I was focused on. "Wendy. Smooch the person who you think will be the most wasted tonight!" She smirks.

"Sure." Wendy says bluntly, before pacing over towards the couch. But surprisingly, she doesn't go for either of the guys.

Instead, she rams her face into Bebe's, having a brief snogging session with her best friend. They have their hands in each other's hair, pushing against each other. I look over at Kenny, who's tongue is practically hanging out of his mouth in awe. Figures; two girls making out was bound to turn on a guy like him.

But even I enjoyed the sight. I mean they were both insanely attractive girls. And something about Wendy being so confident as to seduce a member of the opposite sex in front of everybody, despite being straight…it was _pretty hot_.

Wendy stands upright when she's finished, looking down at Lola, who like the other girls, is giggling and cheering them on.

"You said smooch a person. You never said it had to be a guy." Wendy asserts, before returning to her seat. That right there is why she was always the leader of the popular girl's clique at school.

For a while it was always just her and Bebe, always sticking together and talking to whoever they felt like talking to. But with Wendy's smarts and Bebe's charm combined, they soon had a lot of the boys, including me, wrapped around their little finger. Other girls wanted in on it and started hanging around them, but the ones they chose to be around regularly (and the ones at this party) were the girls who had positive traits they could bring to the group. It wasn't long before Red and her tomboyish ways became a second-in-command to Wendy and Bebe's leadership. Annie Knitts followed, bringing an innocence and generosity not many other girls had. Then Heidi Turner, who was inclusive and always threw parties and gatherings for everyone. Then Nelly, with her loyalty and balls of steel. Then Lola and Jenny, with their many ideas for games and other forms of entertainment (the biggest one, of course, being the list making committee that they formed). Nichole, Isla and Theresa were all late-comers, but like the others, were likeable enough to be welcomed in. Other girls came and left, but these girls were always the core of the clique. They sound picky, and have their bitchy moments, but they were a lot nicer than a lot of the guys seemed to think. Wendy was the one who taught me that.

Bebe sighs, slightly exhausted from her encounter with Wendy.

"Alrighty then! Moving on…" She wraps her arm around Craig sat next to her, who still looks fairly perturbed by what just happened.

"Craig Tucker, my dear friend. We'll come to you next. Could you do me a favor and give a kiss to whoever you think is the most endear-"

What came next was even more surprising than the last one. Craig sat upright, shoving Bebe's arm from around his neck, immediately turns to his left and presses his lips into Tweek's at full force. Tweek claws at the couch frantically, as Craig grabs his head firmly. I hear a tiny whine from Tweek, obviously surprised himself. The guy must've been scared shitless.

All of us just stare in pure shock. There's only the sound of a cup being dropped in the kitchen. I think it's safe to say the rumours surrounding these two were infact true...

Once he's done, Craig sits back in his chair nonchalantly, like nothing's happened. He doesn't say a word. And neither does anyone else for a good few seconds. The first to make noise is Kenny. He stands up onto his feet, pointing at the two.

" **I KNEW IT! HOLY SHIT! I KNEW IT WASN'T BULLSHIT!** "

Shortly following is the sound of girls squealing and a couple of them rush over to Craig, hugging him and congratulating him. They make a fuss of Tweek too, but the poor guy is practically paralysed. He's sitting in the exact same position as Craig left him, mouth and eyes agape, twitching slightly. He looks like he's just witnessed a murder right in front of him.

The guys are all looking at each other, like the biggest plot twist has just gone down. All besides Clyde, who is exchanging smirks with Token across the room. _They knew all along..._

Kyle looks over at me, his face filled with a mixture of confusion and contentment. He was always the one shooting down any homophobic comments made by the other guys, just incase the rumours turned out to be true. But I don't think even he saw this coming. I mean, we spent everyday at school with these two guys, and nothing happened. Craig had never in his life been this forward before.

Kenny is doing some sort of happy dance.

" **IT'S REAL! CREEK! IT'S REEEEAAAL!** "

"…Creek?" says Craig, confused.

"Yeah! Craig + Tweek = Creek! It's what the asian girls always called you...oh my GOD I have to show them this!" exclaims Bebe, whipping out her mobile phone and opening the camera into selfie mode.

"If you take a picture of me I will pour this cup of vodka & punch all over your stupid blonde head."

"Don't you fucking _dare_."

* * *

After scaring Bebe off the couch and onto the floor, Craig stretches his arm over Tweek to calm him. Tweek still doesn't move.

"Broflovski." he snaps.

Kyle jumps out of his skin, still trying to comprehend what just happened. "Yeah?"

"Kiss someone. I can't think of a criteria."

"Well, I don't know!" Kyle protests, "You can't just land that on me!"

"I just did." Craig shrugs.

"I've got one for him." says a girl's voice. It's Annie. And she's got a mischievous grin on her face.

"Kiss someone who's last name is Turner!"

Heidi's cheeks swell up, slapping her friend's arm. "Annie!"

"You guys might as well. While Cartman's in the other room." says Wendy.

"But WHY?!" yells Kyle. I'm sure I hear his voice break.

"Because! You guys haven't even spoken yet tonight! And it's not like you hate each other! Just get it over with!" says Lola.

"Yeah! Get to it!" Jenny echoes.

" _Exactly!_ We haven't even had the chance to speak yet!" Kyle shouts.

The girls start chanting for the two to kiss. After protesting some more (and being shouted down) Kyle groans, walking over to Heidi and sitting in front of her. The two slowly but mutually initiate the kiss, which is probably a little more passionate than it should be. It just makes me wonder how Cartman would react if he were here.

Once they start, the two can't seem to stop, ending with Kyle pulling away quickly and muttering "Okay, t-that's enough!" before shuffling back over to where he was sat. His whole demeanour changes, like he's regretting it all. Knowing him, he's probably worried that Heidi will think less of him for going in too deep.

Meanwhile, Heidi looks more relieved than anything. She's been quiet this whole game, and it seems that this has perked her up a little. Nobody ever really knew how Heidi felt about Kyle. We all knew she was attracted to him, but whether she really liked him was a different story. She seemed to easily shift from Kyle to Cartman, and everybody knew that she really fell for Cartman hard.

Kyle couldn't stand it, but he didn't intervene to spite Cartman. Not at all. He found himself actually liking Heidi, and luckily for him, things just happened to fall into place. Heidi's not a player, but I did always have my doubts about her intentions with Kyle. And whether she was using him.

It suddenly occurs to me why she's been so quiet, and it's nothing to do with Kyle or Cartman. She's surrounded by three empty cider cans. She's not been saying anything because she's been downing alcohol like there's no tomorrow.

"It's my t-turn right?!" she slurs, "The person I pick needs to make out with...with someone they would go home with at the end of tonight! Only it's not gonna be me who picks! It's gonna be _This. Can._ "

Heidi grabs one of the empty cans and places it in the centre of the circle. It's kind of difficult to tell which side of the can is the pointer, not to mention the fact that Heidi spins it so wildly that it lands nowhere near the centre of the circle. But when it does eventually stop, I see the hole of the can facing me.

Shit…I genuinely have no idea who to pick. It obviously can't be Wendy. But then if it's someone BESIDES Wendy, she'll get pissed off…there's no winning here!

"Clyde! It's you!" Heidi chirps, snapping me out of my trance. I look to Clyde who's sat next to me, looking very concerned.

"M-me?!"

Yes you Clyde! Better you than me after all...

His eyes dart around the room, probably doing the same thing as I just did. He stood up, and wandered around the circle as slowly as he possibly could. People were starting to whisper and get impatient with him, but he didn't care. He took his sweet time. Eventually, he had leaned down and placed his finger under Bebe's chin, lifting her head up to meet his. He took a moment to stare at her, his eyes shifting to each of her facial features, stopping at her lips. Surprisingly she sat there and let him do it, not saying a word. But when he kissed her, she kept her eyes open, leaving Clyde to do most of the work with his mouth. When he pulled away, she looked down at the ground, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Part of her looked bored, but another part of her looked really sad. And her bubbliness had definitely died down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A massive thumbs up for Creek! But a massive oof for Clyde. Let's hope the overall drama doesn't continue! ˢᵖᵒᶦˡᵉʳ ᵃˡᵉʳᵗ ᶦᵗ ᵈᵒᵉˢ


	5. Passion Wins Over Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stan deals with a conversation he wasn't looking forward to having, plus one final surprise to conclude the kissing game...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one folks! Enjoy!

The group started talking amongst themselves, but I didn’t hear them. I went and sat next to Bebe on the floor.

“How you feeling?” I ask, although I could probably take a good guess.

She sighs, “I pity him. I really do.”

“Why?”

She looks over to Clyde, “…because he still likes someone like me. Whether he cheated or not, he wants my attention for sure. He wouldn’t have told me otherwise. I don’t want him to beg for my attention. I just want him to snap out of it.”

I see her eyes getting wet, so I put a hand on her shoulder. “That’s just how Clyde is. He’s insecure, and he probably needs assurance regularly.”

“I’ve tried Stan. _Really_. But it’s never enough. I don’t have the patience to keep doing this.”

She lowers her voice slightly, “I fucking love him and always will. But he’s never satisfied. Why should I keep loving someone who’s never going to be satisfied with me?”

“He’s satisfied with you Bebe. You just need to make it clear to him that the attention isn’t always going to be there. Especially tonight. Try and put your thoughts elsewhere and deal with this another time. He’s not going anywhere after all.”

She shuffles up closer to me and wraps her arms around my torso, hugging me tightly. 

“Sometimes you’re a better advice-giver than most of the girls, you know that?”

I laugh, hugging her back. “Only sometimes?”

“Yeah. I think the girls are a little bit more knowledgable than you about what to do with guys."

Suddenly, we see two or three people get up and walk quickly across the room towards the hallway. Token stands at the front of them, shushing the others as he peaks in through the spare bedroom doorway. We watch as his mouth drops and eyes widen. Heidi and Isla step forward and push in front of Token to see whats happening, and their faces do the exact same thing. They look at each other stunned, then immediately burst into fits of laughter. 

“What the hell’s going on?” I ask Token as he walks over to the circle.

“…...what was the question you asked?” he says.

I just furrow my brows in return. “What?”

“It was me,” pipes up Wendy, “It was to kiss the most loyal person…”

“Well then…” Token rubs the back of his neck, “I guess that explains why Kenny just walked into the bedroom and made out with Butters...“

...

...

... **WHAT?!**

Just then, Kenny enters back into the room, picking up a beer out of the fridge on his way. He picks up on the giggles and wolf whistles he receives. 

“Wendy, you never said it had to be a girl. AND you never said they had to be playing the game either. So I switched it up.” He says, chugging the beer. “He surprised me. He’s a better kisser than I thought he’d be."

Damn. I always knew Kenny was bisexual, and liked to experiment as much as possible. But…... _Butters?_ That’s a strange choice. Would he have done that with me or Kyle too? Or is it just because he’s drunk? Fuck knows, honestly.

“I don’t know what y’all are surprised about, Kenny’s always been a whore.” comes a voice from the hallway. It’s Red, closely followed by Kevin Stoley, who looks a lot brighter than before he went into the bathroom. 

“Hey girl! Everything good?” says Bebe, welcoming Red to come and sit next to her as Kevin wanders elsewhere.

“Yeah. I think me and Kevin are on the road to patching things up!” She smiles.

“That’s good! At least someone has an ex who’s willing to TALK and NOT ARGUE all the time” Bebe laughs nervously.

“Ex? Bebe, we never broke up! He just didn’t speak to me for like 3 weeks.” Red laughs, “The weird part is that neither of us knew what we were arguing about. He thought that he’d done something wrong and decided to avoid me, which pissed me off, and me being pissed off then pissed _him_ off. So it was just a bunch of fuckery over nothing.”

Bebe rolls her eyes, “I wish my boyfriend drama was that simple to resolve…”

* * *

Leaving the girls to catch up with each other, I decide to get up and grab myself another beer from the kitchen. Craig’s also there preparing a couple drinks at the counter. I decide to bring up the obvious topic.

“So…” I nudge him playfully. “How long have you guys been fooling us?”

“To be honest it’s not as long as you think.” He says. “It was about a year ago when he came over one day and...in typical Tweek fashion...tried to tell me he was gay. A week after, we were hanging out at Stark’s Pond, and we just…ended up kissing I guess? We’ve not really been dating, just been closer than normal. Just now was actually the third time we’d kissed at all.”

“Have you been swinging that way this whole time then?”

“Nah. He’s the first for me.” He looks over to Tweek, who’s on the couch being hounded by Heidi and Isla. "I guess you can say he was the one that turned me.” 

“Did the rest of the group find out about it?”

Craig rolls his eyes. “Unfortunately, yes. Clyde snatched my phone like a fucking idiot and read my texts to Tweek. But to be honest all the guys were pretty cool with it from the start. It was like nothing was different.”

I smile at him. So tonight was the first time they’d kissed in front of people, huh? No wonder Tweek was so stunned.

After letting Craig know that I’m happy for the two of them, my attention is turned away to a sudden sound of loud pop music coming from Token’s borrowed portable speaker. Lola and Jenny had got a hold of it, and it was clear that Craig didn’t approve of their song choices.

“Fuck me, what the shit is this?” He starts making his way over to the girls. “Lola are you TRYING to scare all my guests away? Jesus Christ woman…” 

I take this chance to slip into the main bedroom and get some fresh air from the balcony door. That, and the drinks were starting to get to my head. 

Entering the room I spot Annie and Nichole lying on the bed, and by the balcony stands Wendy, looking out over the town. The weirdest part is that she’s holding a cigarette. And _smoking it_. That’s definitely something I never would’ve imagined her taking up.

She turns in response to my entrance, but immediately turns back around again. It almost felt like she didn’t know who I was at all. The other two girls however do react to me and smile.

“Hey Stan! Having a good time?” Nichole asks.

“Uh, yeah…it’s awesome seeing everybody again. What about you guys?”

“Yeah! I didn’t think Craig would bag himself a place like this!” says Annie.

“Well, he’s shocked us all tonight hasn’t he.” I smirk.

Annie giggles, “You can DEFINITELY say that again.”

Nichole sits up. “I’m gonna go grab another beverage.”

“Me too actually,” Annie follows. “You comin’ Wend?”

“I’ll join you when I’ve finished this.” she replies.

The girls exit the room, and suddenly I’m alone with her. Not knowing what to say, I sit myself on the edge of Craig’s bed and take out my phone to begin scrolling. For several moments we’re there in silence, awkwardly aware of each others presence, but still choosing to not say a word.

Wendy is the first to break the silence. “…want a smoke?”

I’m about to decline, but then realise that I actually _do_ want a smoke, regardless of whether I’d told my parents that I’d be quitting. Ah well, fuck it.

I walk over to the balcony, resting my back on the wall beside it as she hands me a cigarette and lighter. I place it in my mouth and light it as efficiently as I’ve always done, exhaling and leaning my head back.

“I didn’t think you’d ever smoke.” I say, sensitively trying to make conversation. 

She shrugs in return. “College does things to you. And smoker roommates.” 

“What are you studying?” I ask.

“Political Science. And god damn, do I regret it. I honestly think I’ve lost my will to live.”

I’m not that surprised to hear that Wendy’s taken up politics. She’s always be extremely political, and often said how she wanted to make a difference to the world. But she doesn’t sound all that passionate about it now that I hear her talking like this.

“Do you…not enjoy it?”

“I enjoy debating, sure. But looking at the overall picture, I just don’t know if I see the point, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

She sighs, taking a drag. “There’s a lot more to it than just debating. A lot of things you have to abide by. So much shit to deal with before you can even THINK about debating. And then when you do debate, you’re just talking to brick walls who look at things narrow-mindedly. Everyone in my class has the same opinion, no joke…sometimes I think I’m the only one in this world who actually cares about more than just money and power.”

Damn, when did Wendy get so cynical? I thought I was the one who hated everyone and everything. It sounds to me like her work overload is getting the better of her.

She pauses for a moment before speaking again. “I’m thinking of coming home and reconsidering it all.”

I look at her wide-eyed. “But you were always hellbent on making a difference….surely some people disagreeing with you doesn’t bother you THAT much?”

She snickers. “Of course it doesn’t bother me. But why waste my time? I’m better off doing something where I actually _can_ be useful.”

Something in my brain triggers me to retaliate against this. This isn’t the Wendy I grew up with. The Wendy I knew always made heartfelt projects about changing the country. About helping people. About poverty and war. Global warming. Limiting crime and bigotry. You name it. She didn’t just ramble about it for the hell of it. She meant every word. She _wants_ to make a change. 

“I think giving up on it would be a waste of your abilities, if you ask me.” I start. “It doesn’t matter about the other’s opinions. What matters is what is right. You are more capable than you think. If your heart is set on it, you can achieve it. Passion wins over everything. And you’ve got that. I don’t wanna hear that you’ve got no fight left because I know you well enough to know that you do. It sounds tough, but don’t let that take away your spirit. _God_ , just don’t.”

For the first time tonight, she looks at me properly in the eyes. They're big and gleaming, and remind me of the very first time we kissed. It was extremely charming, but also painful knowing the circumstances we’re in right now.

I expected her to just thank me, but instead she blows a huge raspberry and laughs out loud.

“Huh? Why are you laughing?” I say, baffled.

“…how much have you had to drink?” She giggles. “You are right though. It’ll be difficult, but the best things take a lotta work, don’t they?”

Yep. And the same can be said for our relationship too…at least, from my side of it.

“Definitely. And listen, I may have had a _liiiittle_ to drink but that doesn’t mean what I said isn’t true!”

She smiles. “I suppose you’re right. Anyway, Martin Luther, what are you up to these days?”

I tell her about my job at the school at Fort Collins as we finished our smokes. She laughs as I tell the story of when I first started teaching and a kid pulled down my shorts (luckily not the boxers…) in class once. I have a lot of stories about him; he’s a kid I often have trouble disciplining. He reminds me of young, thinner Cartman. 

The conversation with Wendy becomes easy and casual, like no conflict ever happened in the first place. It almost makes me want to bring up what happened and try and resolve it while she’s merry like this. But then I decide against it, in fear of ruining the mood.

* * *

Eventually we finish up smoking and toss the butts onto the pavement below, before making our way back towards the party. I notice the spare bedroom door ajar, and I can faintly hear the sound of Kyle’s voice coming from inside. Wonder how he’s doing after his encounter with Heidi?

I open up the spare bedroom door to find him with Butters sitting on the bed, facing each other. They look like they’re having a pretty deep conversation.

Kyle notices me walk in, “Hey dude…could you just give us a minute?”

“Sure…” I turn around to exit again, before Butters speaks up, his voice sounding disheartened. 

“No Kyle, it’s ok….it might be good for Stan to know about this too. I trust him.”

“You sure?” Kyle questions, and Butters nods his head. “…alright, if that’s what you want. Shut the door behind you Stan.”

I do exactly that, before taking a seat next to Kyle and in front of a miserable looking Butters. 

“What’s going on man? Is everything alright?”

Butters hesitates, not saying anything and simply sighing instead. 

Kyle intervenes, “You gotta promise not to say a word to ANYBODY. ESPECIALLY Cartman. It can’t get to him no matter what, ok? It can’t get to _anyone_.”

“Yeah dude, you can trust me.”

Butters waits a few moments before opening his mouth. He’s shaking a little, and looks stressed beyond belief. 

“I’m…I-I’m confused, Stan…”

“What do you mean?”

“I d-don’t know…I can’t figure out what’s goin' on in my mind…I-I’m thinkin' about things I shouldn’t be t-thinkin' about…”

I look at Kyle, questioningly. He sighs, “…that game we just played. When Kenny came in here?”

“Oh…you mean-?”

“Kenny is my friend, Stan! He’s just my friend! But for some reason…I _enjoyed_ it! And my mind is tellin' me that I wanna do it again! My mind…my mind is tellin' me…I don’t wanna be his friend...” 

Oh...I see. Now I get it. Now I understand why Butters never really pursued any girls. Now I understand why he always looked uncomfortable whenever Kenny spoke about girls. _He doesn’t like them like that._

I gulp before confirming my thoughts. “Butters…do you…like Kenny? Like… _like_ like him?”

“I don’t know! I really don’t know!!”

“Well…what did you think when he kissed you? How did you feel?” Kyle asks.

“Well obviously it surprised me. But at the same time, I felt…relaxed? And warm? My heart felt like it was thumpin' really hard…like it was gunna jump outta my chest…oh gosh that’s not good is it?!”

“That’s normal Butters! It’s ok! Well, what do you think of Kenny? As a person?”

“He’s one of my best friends! He was always there at school when I needed him! He’s real nice to me, caring...and he makes me laugh a lot!”  A small smile starts to form on Butters’ face. “We always have fun when we’re together! I remember at school I’d always be super excited to walk home with him because we would never just go straight home, we’d end up wanderin' through the woods, climbin' trees, laughin' when we fell over onto our butts…and he’d never judge me! He's one of the only people ever to really understand me! I can tell him anything! Well…w-well maybe not this though…”

I exchange a look with Kyle. He’s got it bad, huh?

“I have no idea what my parents would say if they even _suspected_ this…t-they might not like it…w-what if they don’t??” Butters stutters, getting slightly tearful as he does.

Kyle turns to me. “I was trying to say to him that it’s cool if he likes Kenny. It doesn’t make him any different of a person. And that if his parents truly loved him they’d accept that.” 

‘Absolutely.” I contribute. “Look Butters, I know it’s hard when you get feelings for a friend. But sometimes it can be a wonderful thing! Kenny likes guys _and_ girls, so you never know…your friendship could turn into something else one day!”

“You should start hanging out with us again when you’re not busy studying! We usually hang out whenever I’m back from college, and Kenny comes with us. The more you hang out with him, the more you can understand what you’re feeling! And like Stan said, keeping your connection as good friends can definitely lead to you becoming more!”

Butters looks us both in the eyes for the first time, his eyes sparkling with tears. “Y-ya think so?”

“Absolutely! We know for a FACT that Kenny thinks you’re awesome! Right, Stan?”

“Yeah dude! He often talks about you when we’re hanging out!”

Butters gives us a bright smile, clearly relieved. “…o-ok!! I’ll hang out with you guys again!”

He reaches both his arms forward and pulls me and Kyle in for a tight hug. “Thanks fellas! I don’t feel so bad about it now!” 

“Don’t mention it, we’ll always have your back.” I reiterate. It’s never nice to see Butters feeling down; he’s always so upbeat and positive that it’s a pretty rare occurrence that he's downhearted. He’s always been fun to hang out with too, so I look forward to having him back with us again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It felt wholesome writing this chapter ♥‿♥ more to come soon!


End file.
